Chapter Text
Taehyun held Beomgyu’s head against his neck, thanks to the fire surrounding them he could pretend that Beomgyu was sleeping instead of dead. He could blissfully ignore the blood staining everything around them, and be ignorant of the fire that would surely lead to his end. Taehyun hugged Beomgyu tighter, trying his best to ignore how cold he felt no matter how hot the fire was.
“I’m sorry,” Taehyun muttered quietly, “I should've admitted my feelings.” Maybe the older’s spirit was out there listening to Taehyun’s apologies, and he hoped he would accept them.
“I’m sorry for being so prideful, I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Taehyun hissed when the fire touched him.
His head was getting foggy, it was hard to breathe, and the fire was close enough to burn. Taehyun felt his eyes water as he tried to hold Beomgyu even closer, but he was getting weaker and weaker. This was the end for him.
He wishes he could make it up to Beomgyu.
.
..
…
Taehyun's eyes open and he abruptly sits up. He holds his head, trying to look around as pain shoots through him. The pain he’s feeling isn’t one of burns and his lungs feel clear. Almost as if he didn’t burn to death mere seconds ago.
Once he’s managed to look around Taehyin sees that he’s in his bedroom, the one he vividly remembers burning down. The sun is blocked by the curtains, yet the room still feels cozy. It’s odd.
Taehyun attempts to get out of his bed but collapses to the floor as he stands.
"Taehyun!" A voice says as they rush towards him.
Looking up, Taehyun is met with the face of Hueningkai. Taehyun blinked up at him as Kai fussed over the prince. He couldn’t remember if Kai had lived or not but here he was standing in front of him.
“Kai? Where am I?” He asked, surely this was some kind of afterlife, “What happened.”
Kai frowned slightly before answering, “You’re in your room. You’ve been resting here since the accident.”
“Accident?” Taehyun asked, confused.
Accident. Taehyun remembers being in a carriage accident a few months before he and Beomgyu were supposed to get married. It was pushed back a year due to Taehyun being bedridden for weeks.
But that wouldn’t make sense. Unless….
He had to check.
“When am I getting married?”
“Wha- It was supposed to be in a few months but I’m not so sure now,” Kai said even more confused than before, “Are you sure you’re okay Taehyunie.” Kai switched to a more affectionate way of saying his name, probably due to the fact he wanted to be gentle with him.
“I-I don’t know,” Taehyun said honestly. He didn’t know what was happening.
Kai frowned, “I think Prince Beomgyu was right about you needing more rest.”
Taehyun immediately stood up, catching himself as he tripped, “Where’s Beomgy- Prince Beomgyu?”
“He’s in his study,” Kai answered, standing up as well, “Please don’t go and scold him for wanting you to rest, you know he only cares about you.”
Taehyun was already out the door before he could hear the rest of what Kai was saying. Ignoring every rational thought in his mind he sprinted towards Beomgyu’s study. Maybe he looked weird, running down the hallways in his nightwear, but that didn’t matter.
Teahyun finally stopped in front of the study, catching his breath before he threw open the doors of the study.
“Prince Taehyun?” Beomgyu asked, dropping the papers in his hands due to surprise.
Taehyun didn’t answer, he just walked over to the other. Beomgyu was right in front of him, and Taehyun nearly cried. He had so many things to say, so many things to apologize for.
“I love you.”
♛˚ʚ♡ɞ˚♕
Beomgyu would say his day started off normally. He woke up and got ready, checked on Taehyun while he was still sleeping, had breakfast, then got to work. The plan was to check on Taehyun again, go eat lunch with his brother, then work more before sleep.
However any normalcy went out the window the minute Kang Taehyun, the prince he was supposed to marry and his crush, came storming into his study. It didn’t help that his shirt was mostly unbuttoned and said the three words Beomgyu thought he'd never hear out of Taehyun’s mouth.
“I love you.”
“W-what?” Beomgyu looked at Taehyun confused, his heart fluttering at the idea that Taehyun actually liked him. But that couldn’t be right, he had made it pretty clear that he couldn’t stand Beomgyu the last time they spoke.
“I love you,” Taehyun says again, his voice steady and confident.
There was a beat of silence before Beomgyu sighed, “Let’s get back to your bed, you’re still recovering.”
Beomgyu started leading Taehyun out the door and back to his room, offering his arm as a formality. To his surprise, Taehyun took it, which normally never happened outside of public appearances. He could see a slight pout in the younger prince’s face but he seemed deep in thought.
Eventually, they made it back and were met with a frantic Kai.
“I’m sorry Your Highness,” Kai said with a bow before he ushered Taehyun back to his bed, “He seemed out of it earlier, and I didn’t think he’d sprint all the way to your study in his night clothes .” Kai glared at Taehyun who simply looked the other way.
“It’s okay,” Beomgyu said, “I’ll call a physician.”
Beomgyu excused himself and as he closed the door he could see Taeyun’s eyes staring at him. It seemed almost longingly. Beomgyu shook his head trying to get those thoughts out of his head. Taehyun woke up and became disoriented, he wasn’t going to dwell on a question that would certainly cause some emotional turmoil. Why did he say I love you?
Beomgyu stopped a maid in the halls to tell her to bring a physician to Taehyun’s room for a check-up. He watched the maid walk away to complete the task before walking back to his study. He collapsed onto the chair and groaned into his hands. No way was he going to be able to focus on his work. Questions aside, Teahyun did barge into his study chest half exposed.
The prince put his head on his desk with a pout, but no doubt a lovesick look in his eyes. He remembers meeting Taehyun and thinking he was pretty. He hadn’t even met the younger one beforehand.
All the marriage planning was done by their parents. They told the public it was to strengthen the two Kingdom’s bonds, but that was a lie and Beomgyu knew it. The two kingdoms didn’t need to be allied with each other, there was no reason to. However, they both were suffering from a similar problem. Low morale and riots. Their parents thought that if the people had something to talk about, something to be excited about, they would calm down. Thus the kingdom’s two beloved Princes got engaged and were set to marry in a year.
Their first meeting was more of a formality. Marriage details were already set in place but they were yet to be officially engaged. A simple formal dinner. While everyone was politely making small talk Taehyun sat there in silence, his hair was pink at the time and Beomgyu swore he saw the top of his head more than his face that dinner.
Later Beomgyu would walk with Taehyun around the palace, attempting to make small talk. But the younger prince was rather cold, giving blunt unimpressed answers. It made Beomgyu feel awkward, but he sucked it up for the rest of the night.
They met again the day before their engagement became official. Taehyun was still a bit blunt but he had apologized for his rudeness during their first meeting. Which Beomgyu accepted, of course, he was going to forgive a pretty boy.
The two didn’t see each other much the rest of the day, but Beomgyu did see Taehyun walking in the garden from his window. He looked almost ethereal in the moonlight, crouching in the rose bushes, petting one of the stray cats that made its way onto the palace grounds. After their engagement, Taehyun had the audacity to bring him flowers and then be incredibly cold like it never happened. Beomgyu has a crush on a pretty boy who might have a softer heart than he realized.
A crush that hasn’t disappeared and continues to grow.
He’s brought out of his thoughts when there’s a knock on his door and an attendant comes in.
“Your Highness,” He says with a bow, “It’s time for your appointment with your brother, Prince Yeonjun.”
“Ah, is it really?” Beomgyu says standing up, “I shall make my way there now.”
♛˚ʚ♡ɞ˚♕
“So..” Yeonjun said, causing Beomgyu to look up from his meal, “I heard Taehyun was running down the hallways to your study this morning.” Yeonjun put his chin on his hands as he smirked at his younger brother.
Beomgyu glared at Yeonjun, “Yeah? What about it?”
“Well normally you come sulking to us whenever Taehyun scolds you,” Yeonjun said, his voice turning to teasing.
“I do not!” Beomgyu gasped, offended.
“You do,” Soobin said from where he was standing behind Yeonjun, “Which means something good happened.”
“No one asked Soobin,” Beomgyu snapped.
“So he’s right!” Yeonjun said jumping in his seat, “Did my poor baby brother finally seduce his crush?”
Beomgyu resumed glaring at Yeonjun, “It doesn’t matter, he was disoriented from waking up.”
Yeonjun had started leaning forward, “So? That doesn’t explain what happened.”
Beomgyu sent pleading eyes to Soobin, who simply put his hands up as if saying he wasn’t going to get involved. (he was actually saying he sided with Yeonjun, like always)
“He bursted into my study and told me ‘I love you’” Beomgyu muttered, looking away in embarrassment.
“I can’t hear you~” Yeonjun sang.
Beomgyu ceased his embarrassment to once again glare at his brother, “He said ‘I love you’ after bursting into my study.”
The two stared at him in shock, before Soobin struggled to hide a snicker and Yeonjun started smirking again.
“So you did seduce him.”
“No! And you!” Beomgyu pointed at the still laughing guard, “Stop laughing at my misery!”
“How is that misery?” Soobin questions once he’s composed himself, “Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“Yes!” Beomgyu nearly shouted, “But before the accident, he made it clear he didn’t like me.” Beomgyu suddenly deflates, “I wonder if he mistook me for someone else while he was disoriented.”
Yeonjun scoffs, “I think it’d be kind of hard to mistake you for someone else.”
“What does that mean!”
“He means that Taehyun couldn’t have mistaken you for another person,” Soobin said quickly before Beomgyu could jump the older prince, “Besides he is quite famous for not being in love.”
“What?”
“Supposedly Prince Taehyun has turned down every other marriage proposal, except yours.”
“Ooo~ That means you're special Beomie!” Yeonjun says way too excitedly.
“He probably has some other reason to agree to marry me,” Beomgyu says a little sadly, “He’s probably using me and the marriage for something.”
Yeonjun reached over the table to pat Beomgyu on the head, before getting swatted away.
“I’ll be married to a pretty man who wants nothing to do with me,” Beomgyu said with a sigh
“I’m sure it’ll turn out fine,” Soobin reassured him, “You’ll get closer to him, Your Highness.”
“Don’t ever call me ‘Your Highness’ again. It feels weird coming from your mouth.”
♛˚ʚ♡ɞ˚♕
“He wants to do what?” Beomgyu questioned, brows furrowing.
Beomgyu had finished spreading time with his brother (and by extension Soobin) and decided to try and finish the work he’s been putting off the whole day. Except clearly that wasn’t going to happen.
“Prince Taehyun has requested to have dinner with you tonight,” Kai says again.
“Why? It’s not to scold me is it?” Beomgyu asks, his afternoon was filled with Soobin and Yeonjun filling him with delusions. The last thing he needs is to face an annoyed Taehyun.
But Kai offers a small smile, “I don’t think so, Your Highness.”
Beomgyu sighs, the answer didn’t matter he was going to attend either way, “Right, tell Prince Taehyun I’ll join him for dinner tonight.”
“Of course,” Kai said with a smile and a bow before he left.
Beomgyu fell back into his chair with a pout and started fiddling with his pen. It wasn’t weird for Taehyun to request to have meals together, but that was normally when he wanted something. His pout turned into a deep frown. Kai had said Taehyun wasn’t going to scold him, so that means he wanted something. Was he going to be told to forget about this morning? Or did Taehyun want something else?
Beomgyu let out a frustrated yell as he tried to think over the reasons Taehyun would want to eat with him. One pitiful staring at the ceiling later Beomgyu had to accept he wasn’t going to get any work done. He begrudgingly left the comforts of his chair and went to go get ready.
Which actually meant staring at his wardrobe and mirror for a few hours. Even if it was a brief meeting Beomgyu liked to dress nicely for Taehyun. He’s a hopeless romantic who needs words of affirmation, he’s also delusional.
Beomgyu adjusted his jacket cuffs as he approached the dining hall door. Standing in front of it made the gold and brown doors look almost imposing. Maybe they were, or maybe Beomgyu was nervous as he usually is. With a million thoughts in his head, Beomgyu put his hand on the door and pushed it open.
The atmosphere seemed warm, not too dark not too bright. Two sets of tableware were set across from each other, the silver shimmering in the light. There was no food out yet but Beomgyu was sure that would change the minute he sat down. There were also various flowers strone about the room. It felt more comforting than other dinners. It felt nice.
Taehyun, who was standing off to the side, came to greet him. He was nothing short of beautiful. Blond hair that didn’t seem too styled, leaving it with a fluffy look, and his outfit of various blues and slivers. It made Beomgyu’s brain stop running around for a split second but snapped out of it when he remembered etiquette.
“Prince Taehyun,” He said with a bow.
“Prince Beomgyu,” Taehyun said, “Thank you for coming.”
Taehyun was giving him a warm smile and his eyes seemed to sparkle a bit more when Beomgyu said his name. What was happening?
“Of course,” Beomgyu responded nervously. His nerves didn’t calm as Taehyun led him to his seat, in fact, they seemed to make them worse.
Taehyun offered a warm smile from the other side of the table, causing Beomgyu’s face to heat up. There was no way this was real. Taehyun giving him a smile? Was he dreaming? This whole day had to be a dream.
Like Beomgyu had thought the food was brought out and they eat in awkward silence, or at least Beomgyu thought it was awkward.
“You look pretty tonight,” Taehyun said randomly, putting his silverware down to prop his head on his chin.
“Thank you?” Beomgyu said after nearly choking. “You too. You look beautiful.”
Taehyun beamed at the compliment. Beomgyu was incredibly confused. Was Taehyun under some sort of spell? Magic didn’t exist but he was willing to start believing it did to find an explanation.
“Will you walk with me in the gardens after dinner?” Taehyun asked, his head tilted slightly.
Damn, he couldn’t deny that, “I’d be honored to.”
The rest of the dinner was quiet with the two trying to have a conversation but it was mostly just asking questions with short answers. Eventually, when they were both done Taehyun got up and offered his arm to Beomgyu.
After one stunned second Beomgyu took it and was led off to the gardens. There was mostly silence as they walked down the path they ran through the large garden.
“About this morning-”
“It’s fine,” Beomgyu said, cutting Taehyun off, “I’ll forget about it.” He knew that Taehyun was going to talk about forgetting the incident, might as well make it quick.
“No, I wanted to apologize,” Taehyun said, causing Beomgyu to whip his head around to stare at the younger prince. “I’m sorry for interrupting your morning and barging into your study.”
“It’s okay, like I said I forget about it.”
Taehyun bit his lip nervously as they walked. Beomgyu wondered why. The apology was already weird for Taehyun but nervousness was a whole other thing. Beomgyu had a sad feeling he knew what it was about.
“I’ll also forget about the love confession,” Beomgyu said, he was slightly proud at the fact his voice didn’t sound sad.
“What? Why?”
“Well I mean it’s clear you mistook me for someone else, probably due to waking up,” Beomgyu said, keeping his voice steady, “It makes me wonder if that person got married elsewhere and you’re using me as an escape.”
Taehyun’s eyes widened, “There’s no one else. Why would you think that.”
Beomgyu sighed, “I’m trying to rationalize why you would want to marry me,” he felt Taehyun pause slightly, “You must be using me or something.”
There was a silence “I admit one reason I agreed to this marriage was to get away from my kingdom…” Taehyun said, bowing his head shamefully.
“So you were using me!” Beomgyu shouted, he felt tears start to gather in his eyes.
“No, no,” Taheyun said, stumbling a bit as Beomgyu retracted his arm back.
“I didn’t want to believe that you were using me for something,” Beomgyu said sadly, “I wanted to believe you had a heart, but you were always so cold to me.”
“I’m sorry,” Taehyun said after some silence, “I’ve rejected marriage proposals left and right no matter how sincere they were because they couldn’t give me what I wanted.”
Taehyun was looking at the ground now, “I wanted to get away from my kingdom. I admit that was one reason I agreed to this. But I had a hard time trying to adjust to your warm personality, you didn’t deserve me being cold to you. You were new and I felt overwhelmed, it felt so different from the uptight people from my kingdom and it just took me off guard.”
Beomgyu blinked the tears away. Taehyun had a hard time adjusting to him? And his personality of all things. “I- I thought you hated me.”
“I’m sorry, I promise I don’t” Taehyun looked up into Beomgyu’s eyes, “Please wait for a second.”
Taehyun ran to the gazebo up ahead and came back, holding a bouquet of white and red tulips. He presented the bouquet to Beomgyu with a bow.
“I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting these past months. You didn't deserve my coldness because ultimately it wasn’t your fault. I was just hoping we could start over,” Taehyun looked up at Beomgyu from behind his bangs, still bowing.
White tulips meant forgiveness, and red ones can mean many things but Beomgyu chooses to think they mean ‘believe me’ over the other meanings.
“I forgive you,” Beomgyu said, delicately taking the bouquet. He hates to admit it but he’ll always forgive and believe Taehyun. HE blames his stupid hopeless romantic heart. “And..”
Teahyun stood up, looking at Beomgyu with hopeful eyes. They looked like they held stars in them.
“And..” Beomgyu continued, “I’d love to start over.”
Taehyun gave Beomgyu the widest smile he thinks he’s ever seen on the prince before he took Beomgyu’s free hand.
“It’s an honor to meet you Your Highness, Prince Beomgyu,” Taehyun said, placing a kiss on the hand he held.
“The honor is all mine Prince Taehyun,” Beomgyu said in response, “Would you like to join me for the rest of my garden walk.” He held out his arm, inviting Taehyun.
“Of course, I would,” Taehyun said, almost clinging to his arm.
Beomgyu smiled to himself as they walked on. Soobin, as much as it was annoying, was right. It turned out fine.